Foundation to Promote Open Society

• The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests and works by invitation only, so a small charity should not send a cold application and should look instead for a route to an introduction.
• Repeat giving is high: 75% of its grant dollars to organisations went to groups it had also funded in the earlier years the filing covers, which suggests existing relationships count for a great deal.
• Its stated focus is broad, covering civil-society bodies, educational institutions and research organisations, with a geographic priority listed as around the world, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, and the United States.
• About 8 in 10 of its grants fall between $60,000 and $1,000,000 and the median is $250,000, so a request of that order is typical, though that band is not a ceiling, and its largest grant of about $45,000,000 went to Open Society Foundation London, an organisation that regrants to others, so it is not a guide for a small charity.
• The filing gives no timetable for invitations, so an organisation without an existing link should not expect a response to an unsolicited request.

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

• Open Society Foundation London · To support non-lobbying activities and programs promoting open, democratic societies around the world
  $44,927,2392024 tax year
• Soros Economic Development Fund · To support grantee's program related investment activities
  $25,000,0002024 tax year
• Boston Foundation · To support the fokal designated fund
  $20,000,0002024 tax year
• Bard College · To provide general support
  $20,000,0002024 tax year
• Roma Foundation for Europe · To provide general support
  $15,602,3372024 tax year
• Central European University · To support research, outreach activities and operating costs of the budapest-based units of central european university in the 2024/25 academic year
  $15,000,0002024 tax year
• Open Society Foundation London · To support non-lobbying activities and programs promoting open, democratic societies around the world
  $8,072,7612024 tax year
• Amnesty International · To provide general support
  $5,200,0002024 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.